Fixing The ‘iTunes Could Not Connect To This iPhone’ Error

Backing up, and syncing data to your iOS device from a PC or Mac is really easy and taking a regular back-up is a great idea. That said, it’s not always an error free experience and the ‘iTunes Could Not Connect To This iPhone’ error is one of the more common ones to occur when you connect your iOS device to your system. What’s more is that once you start getting this error, it appears repeatedly. It prevents your phone from charging and from syncing which means no backups can be taken and no music can be synced to your device. It’s not the most pleasant of errors but here are a few ways for you to try and fix it.

I’ve personally encountered this error a lot and it is more a hardware related problem than it is a software one. Fortunately the two main culprits in this case are your charging cable and your USB port, and not your entire computer system or your device.

Check Your Charging Cable

Make sure your charging cable is working properly and remember that just because it’s charging from a wall socket doesn’t necessarily mean it will work right with your Mac or PC. Check the connector to see if anything is broken, check the length of the wire to see if anything might be exposed and make sure you’re using either an authentic charging cable, or one that is Apple approved. When it comes to the charging cable, a poor quality one can lead to this error.

Change USB Ports

I’ve never experienced problems with a loose USB port on an iMac or a Mac Mini but it might be possible on any sort of Macbook and likewise, it has been a problem for me on a PC. The quick solution is to use a different USB port on your system. You might not notice if a USB port is loose if you only plug USBs into it but other devices like the iPhone will not be able to transfer data when connected to a loose port.

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Remove The Cover

Sometimes a poorly designed cover or iPhone case can prevent the cable from being pushed in all the way. Make sure it’s pushed in all the way, or remove the cover and then connect the phone. This might work but again this problem is going to be a combination of a poorly designed case used with a low quality charging cable. It’s also very likely that this error will begin occurring right after you buy a new cover. It isn’t something that will stay hidden for a long time and then suddenly pop up unless the charging cable is more to blame than the case.

The Last Resort

Assuming nothing works, you can try two more options. Set your system (assuming it’s a laptop or notebook) on a desk, and your device next to it. Connect the two and try your very best to not move the device or let anything disturb it. Don’t attempt to use your phone i.e. take it in your hand, when you’re trying to get it to connect. Second, try rebooting both your PC and your iOS device.